


Cysegry Draig Llanidloes

by accio_broom



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Dragon Keeper Ron Weasley, Dragons, F/M, First Date, Not Canon Compliant, POV First Person, POV Ron Weasley, Reunited lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-03
Updated: 2021-01-03
Packaged: 2021-03-13 16:21:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28531380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/accio_broom/pseuds/accio_broom
Summary: After bumping into Hermione at the Leaky Cauldron, Ron finds his old feelings have been stirred.  He invites her out for a date she hopefully won't forget.Follow on one-shot to Why You Wanna.  Non-Canon Compliant.
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley
Comments: 22
Kudos: 16





	Cysegry Draig Llanidloes

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone. This one-shot is a follow on from "Why You Wanna", which I rewrote yesterday and posted to my Tumblr. The fine people on the Romione discord are a bunch of enablers, especially adenei and saycheese so here's the follow on written from Ron's POV. I did consider using another Jana Kramer song for information and was only aiming for a short 2k piece. But instead, you get this monster that includes dragons, romance and fluff. I hope you like it and as always, please leave me comments and feedback. If you can't be nice, be constructive! :-) 
> 
> Oh, and the title translation is included in the fic. I apologise to any welsh speakers if I have it wrong. I'm only in my first month of learning the language. I definitely know that "Draig dw i" is "I am a dragon" in Welsh. Welcome to my TED talk x

Tracking dragons across the UK is bloody difficult. I already knew this when I took Charlie up on his offer of a job, and in the year; I hadn't learnt. Even tracking them all ove Europe hadn't given me the skills I needed for this bloody mission.

Tracking dragons across the UK is made bloody even more difficult by the fact that since Tuesday, Hermione bloody Granger had been at the front of my mind.

I hadn't planned on bumping into her at the pub. Charlie and I had been at the Ministry, getting our licences to be able to work here and I'd heard Neville blab on so much about how much work Hannah had put in to transform the pub in his letters to me; I knew he'd never forgive me if I didn't pop my head in and check it out for myself.

And she had been there, sat in a quiet corner, her head buried in a book as always. Honestly, it could not have come at a worse time. If she hadn't run out of the pub (not my fault – she had to go back to work, I promise) I could have easily spent the rest of the day with her.

I had been desperate to get back in touch with her since, but the dragons had to come first; Charlie had been adamant. He had been called home to help the Welsh reserve locate a pack of Welsh Greens with an injured mother in their midst. The wizarding community had done their part, obliviating the memories of the muggles that had seen her to protect her and her kin but it wouldn't be too long before something serious went down; and usually it was the muggles who were worst affected. Take the Great Fire of London; an annoyed Welsh Green started that. I bet you didn't know that.

Anyway, it had taken us three days, but she was on the reserve now getting the help she needed. The dragon that is, not Hermione. The rest of her pack had settled in the surrounding hills to wait for their companions.

Dragons are cute like that.

Oh, Merlin. I just realised how much like Charlie I'm starting to sound like. Dragons are cute like that. The next thing you know I'll be getting a great big tattoo on my back, or on my butt if the rumours about my brother are true.

As the dragon had been my first ever rescue, I volunteered to stay with her until I knew she was safe and accepting the help she needed so it was Friday evening before I'd had a chance to shower and even then, I had to wait for the common room at the sanctuary to empty out so I could have some peace and quiet.

I knelt at the hearth, drying my palms on my jeans. She made me feel so nervous and I hadn't even called for her yet. With a handful of floo powder, I eventually pushed my head into the fire and asked for the library at Grimmauld Place.

She had been surprised to see me; I guess you never got used to heads randomly appearing where a fire should be. Of course, she'd been sat reading instead of out socialising on a Friday night and I couldn't help but let a smile spread across my face at how predictable she still was.

"Oh good, you're here!"

Hermione set her book down carefully, although I noticed her hands shook slightly. Overcoming the initial shock, she slipped off the sofa and moved closer to me; a move I was definitely thankful for. She looked like she'd not long gotten out of the shower and she was in her pyjamas, despite the fact it was still early in the evening.

She was almost lost for words, which was completely unlike her and it took her a while to speak.

"Yeah, I'm here. Where else would I be?"

The question made me chuckle. It was if she was trying to be aloof with me.

"Nowhere else…" I smirked as I saw her eye twitch; a sure-fire sign she was fighting the urge to argue with me. It was tempting to let her start, to let the familiarity of our bickering pull us both in but I needed to keep her in my favour, at least for now.

"What do you want Ron?"

I tried to ignore the barbed response, my stomach lurching instead in nerves. "D – do you have any plans for tomorrow?" The stutter came out of nowhere as my fingers played with the old tiles around the fireplace. How did she still have this power over me? It wasn't as if we had never hung out before but what if I'd completely misread the tone of our last meeting. Merlin, I didn't even know if she was even single. She probably wasn't. She had almost certainly been snapped up as soon as I'd left the country and had a line of men waiting to take her out; to buy her fancy food and plough her with posh wine, all the stuff she loved the most.

Figuring I'd already started the question, I might as well finish it. "I know it's really short notice, but I did say on Tuesday that we should go for a drink but I may have a better offer for you, if you fancy it, that is…"

The cruel witch teased me for a bit by pretending to think about her answer, causing my heart to stop beating and making me think I may have died. I must be dead to think I even had a chance with Hermione again. I gulped once, twice. No, I definitely was still alive as I almost started to choke on the bundle of nerves that had slowly gathered near my Adam's apple, threatening to make me feel sick. I hadn't felt this nervous since my first game of Quidditch in school and that had been many years ago now.

"I can make myself free, sure…." Hermione was smiling now, her cheeks flushing bright red and I felt the nerves morph into a delightful swooping sensation that travelled across my stomach. I still felt sick, but this was happy sick now.

Making Hermione happy always made me feel happy too and I couldn't help but feel my own smile spread across my face and the tips of my ears turn pink.

Traitors.

"Brilliant!" I tried my best not to sound too overexcited, although my huge ears were already giving me away. "Okay, so you'll need to wear wellies and a coat. And uhm, probably a hat too actually. I know it's summer, but it gets really cold up here. I'll owl you a location to floo to because it's really important for you to say the words exactly how they're written, or you could end up in serious trouble. So please be careful Hermione…"

I tried to put emphasis on the last words so she could fully understand the implications if she got it wrong. I know most people thought of me as a joker, someone who never took life seriously but there were some things I'd never joke about and Hermione getting eaten by a dragon was top of that list.

"That sounds really ominous Ron, but I guess I'm in!"

"Perfect! I'll see you at 9?"

We said goodbye and I felt proud at the fact that I didn't feel the need to retaliate to Hermione's shock at me even being awake that early in the morning, let alone ready to receive visitors. I've done some growing up over the past year, I'll have you know.

Eventually, I pulled my face out of the fireplace and returned my attention back to the common room. I hadn't heard Charlie coming in, yet there he was watching me with his eyebrows raised.

"Charlie!" I grinned as I stood up, dusting down the knees of my jeans. "I need a favour. Do you fancy a drink?" I looped my arm around his shoulder; I was pretty good at getting my older brother on my side and he quickly agreed to come to the Leaky with me. I wrote a quick note with our location to Hermione, sending an excitable Pig off for a night flight before heading to the pub – a noticeable spring in my step.

Harry had been at the Leaky Cauldron along with Ginny and a few of our old school friends. It was bloody brilliant bumping into everyone and I perhaps stayed longer than I'd planned. Bloody git. It was all Harry's fault, or at least that's what I'll say if Hermione asks when I'm tired.

As we caught up, I couldn't help but let him in on my plans for the day, laughing as he'd grown increasingly excited. I almost regretted my decision as he looked hopeful about getting his own invitation to spend the day with us until Ginny stepped in.

Of course, in repayment, I had to promise to go to the Burrow Sunday for lunch to make up for not taking time to see my family. Apparently, rescuing dragons is not a good enough excuse for not flooing my mother. How mental is that? That's my family through and through though, always worrying about themselves.

Anyway, after a small amount of explaining from Ginny about my true intentions and a few more shots of Firewhisky; Harry had told me how thrilled he was that Hermione and I were going to start seeing more of each other and how much he'd hoped that we would get married and have a ton of babies. Apparently, he's our biggest fan – although considering he spent most of our teen years acting as a cockblock, I highly doubt that.

Charlie had forced me out of bed pretty early so I could help muck out the babies. I hated sharing a chalet with him, even with the changes to my lifestyle there was still a limit to how early I'd happily get out of bed. But it was either share with Charlie or share with Big Clive; a man that somehow manages to snore louder than me and all my brothers put together. Big Clive was also a cuddler, but don't ask me how I know that.

By the time we made it to breakfast, I'd had two showers and changed what I was wearing three times. Dragon muck gets everywhere. I could barely even stomach my toast, I was so nervous. Luckily, the rest of the crew were happy to pretend that I had a hangover similar to theirs, but actually, I'd stopped drinking after two beers; wanting to keep my brain clear for today. I couldn't believe how tense I felt; apparently, hundreds of years of friendship with Hermione didn't make this any less of a big deal, well at least according to my brain.

I'd finally decided to take a huge bite of my toast when the fireplace engaged with a rush of noise.

Typical.

I turned in my seat anyway as I chewed, my stomach flipping disgustingly. Why do stomachs and brains do these things and betray you as they do?! We're the same person, we're supposed to be on the same team so you'd think we'd work together to come to a pleasant agreement.

But apparently not.

Despite my body being out to get me, I pushed back my chair and made my way over to her; keen to get to Hermione before anyone else could intercept. The other handlers were a strange bunch, and I really could do without her being scared off before I had a chance to do that myself. As I moved towards her, I tried to think of something clever and impressive to say.

"Hey!"

What the fuck Ron, was that all you could think of saying?! The bag of flobberworms that had been opened in my stomach were doing laps now, squirming excitedly. Hermione greeted me with a huge smile that did nothing to calm the buggers down.

"Hey yourself, good morning! It's strange seeing you so bright and happy in the morning! Where are we?"

Of course, the owl I'd sent her last night was in Welsh and she probably didn't speak a word of it being from Hampstead. Even she wasn't that brilliant. Fortunately, I'd manage to pick up a small amount in the week I'd been staying here - we used the language to speak to the dragons since they were Welsh, obviously.

"So, the directions you followed were to the Llanidloes Dragon Sanctuary, or Cysegry Draig Llanidloes. We're in Mid-Wales, right at the top of the River Severn and not too far away from Aberystwyth." I pulled on a coat and jammed a hat onto my head as I started to steer her out of the room.

With a second thought, I grabbed the last of my toast. Despite my nerves, I knew I'd find it even harder to concentrate if I was hungry all day. With another bite of my breakfast, I continued my rehearsed welcome to my new place of work.

"You know how on Tuesday I said that me and Charlie had been tracking a pack of Welsh Greens? Well, we finally found them and brought them back here. One of them was injured and she had babies too, so I've been working with the healer to look after her. That's why I wasn't able to get in touch with you until yesterday, just in case you were wondering…"

We stepped out of the common room and into the cold air. I started to make my way down the path, not noticing that she wasn't following me until I got about seven steps away from her. She was focusing instead on taking in our surroundings and for a moment, I was jealous of her. I'd love to experience the views for the first time again.

The sanctuary had been built in the 1500's half-way up the side of Pegwyn Mawr. Since 2011 the muggles thought it was a wind farm but in truth, the sanctuary had grown so big they'd had to use strong muggle repellent charms to keep them away. At about 250 metres above sea level, on a good day you could see all the way to the seaside, although the rolling hills made the location seem isolated. It still took my breath away, even though I'd had a week to get used to it and it calmed me to see it had the same effect on Hermione.

She turned to face me as she realised she was alone.

"It's brilliant, isn't it?" I was surprised to hear how breathless I sounded, although I wasn't sure it was the scenery that did it.

"It'll look even better once the sun burns the last of the fog off the top of the mountain. But we do need to move quickly, or we'll miss why I brought you here. I promise there'll be other dazzling views just like this one later…"

I waited patiently for her to catch up with me before continuing to move eagerly down the path. Charlie could not and would not wait forever for us as he'd likely lose more than just his eyebrows (and trust me, those dragons loved singeing off a random selection of body hair like they thought it was funny. It took forever for arm hair to grow back).

Luckily, the awkwardness that had hung between Hermione and me on Tuesday had melted away and it felt like we'd never been apart as we caught up. It felt almost bad when we got about five feet from our destination and were forced to stop talking.

"Close your eyes…" I couldn't help but laugh as I turned towards her and saw the confused expression on her face.

"What?" I rolled my eyes at her question; trust Hermione to question everything I asked from her.

"You trust me, don't you?" My stomach lurched again as she nodded her head; that girl always had far too much faith in me. "Good! Then close your eyes…"

I waited patiently for her to do as she was told, inwardly cursing the fact that she always had to consider every eventuality, despite her admission that she trusted me. It wasn't like I was going to lead her off the side of the bloody mountain, for Godric's sake.

Once her eyes were finally closed I shifted to stand behind her, my breath catching as I felt the warmth radiating from her body. I resisted the urge to bury my nose into her curls and breathe in the scent of her strawberry shampoo, the same brand she'd used since we were 11. Of course, I couldn't because she was wearing a hat but I never let a small thing like that stop me before. Instead, I concentrated on keeping the blood circulating evenly around my body as I placed both hands over her eyes and started to steer her around the hill.

"It's only five more steps forward, I'll help you. The path is smooth and I promise you won't fall…" I started to push her gently forward, causing her to squeal my name in excitement and immediately I was transported back 18 months to my bedroom in Grimmauld Place. Only that version of Hermione was moaning my name and my head was somewhere it definitely shouldn't be whilst I was trying to keep her safe.

I may have underestimated how far away we were; it was definitely more than five of her baby steps but we eventually made it to where we needed to be.

The dragon I rescued was a grand looking lady; a fully grown Welsh Green with scales that sparkled like jewels in the sun. One of the first things I had learnt when I started working with dragons was that they formed bonds quickly, and despite their scary demeanour; they liked being friends with humans unless they suspected them of malintent. By the time I'd finished my first week working at the sanctuary in Romania, I'd developed an affinity for the beasts that would rival Hagrid's and knew that working with them was where I truly belonged.

I'd nicknamed my rescue dragon Bertha, a name she suited down to a tee. As soon as she noticed me she let out a loud, musical roar, scaring Hermione enough for her to take a tight hold of my arms. Luckily, I had my coat on as her touch would have probably distracted me enough to put us both in serious amounts of danger. I dropped my head probably just a little lower than I needed to, just to tease her slightly.

"Okay, I'm going to slowly uncover your eyes. You need to make sure you stay really still. Don't make any sudden noises or movements, or she might think you're trying to hurt her. Understand?"

I waited for her to nod against my hands, her grip tightening on my arms. She was scared, which was understandable. I was scared the first time I came face to face with a fully grown dragon; the second and third times too actually. You'd think riding on the back of one out of Gringotts would have helped me warm to them, but it didn't. Slowly, I pulled my arms away from her face, letting out a small moan in protest as she relinquished her hold on me. Unable to handle the new gap between us, I slid both my hands into hers; remaining behind her so she could have an uninterrupted look at the dragon.

Bertha was stood in front of us; her wings outstretched as if to show off all her amazing glory to Hermione. Dragons were also very overprotective, so I wouldn't be surprised if she were peacocking to scare Hermione off. Hermione let out a gasp, and I held onto her hands tighter, just in case. The dragon let out another roar, her song bouncing around the valley; the repeat coming back from the rest of her pack just the other side of the mountain, reassuring her that they were close by.

"Watch closely…" My head was still close to Hermione's and I could hear her breath coming short and shallow. She was mesmerised, which was the exact response I wanted from her.

Charlie was stood in front of Bertha, approaching her slowly and taking it step by step so as not to upset her. He had her breakfast in his arms; a dead sheep we'd acquired from a local farmer. He set the carcass on the floor in front of Bertha carefully, making sure to keep eye contact with her constantly. Dragons are sneaky, and if they think they can get the upper hand they almost certainly will. As Charlie stepped back into the safe zone, four miniature versions of the dragon peeked out from behind her, eager for their breakfasts. Baby dragons had less fear and were more likely to interact with humans. I'd named them Bertha 2, 3 and 4 – highly original names, I think you'd agree.

"She's beautiful…" I heard Hermione whisper again. As soon as the babies had appeared, I had switched my attention to the witch in my arms, desperate to see her reaction to them. It took me ages to come up with the idea of showing her Bertha as a date idea and even longer to persuade Charlie to let me bring her up. Visitors were usually strictly banned and he had to pull a lot of strings for it. I was pleasantly surprised to see it had been worth it.

"I know…" The words had escaped my lips before I'd even thought them and it wasn't the dragon I was talking about. My eyes were probably burning into her skull and I watched as she tore her eyes away from Bertha and her babies, fixing firmly on mine instead.

Her eyes were still beautiful; hazel with flecks of gold in them. I used to tease her that she had stars in her eyes, that it meant she was destined for great things but truthfully, they made me feel warm and happy as if everything would eventually be okay. I could stare at those eyes for hours.

Without even knowing what was happening, I could feel my head moving closer to hers as it were being pulled by an invisible string.

Our lips pressed together in a kiss so soft, it was like it was almost not there. Yet, it was everything I'd remembered it to be and more; somehow feeling better, as if the high altitude and the heat from the dragon and the months apart were making it even more special. I was desperate to move around her, to feel more of her pressed against me but I managed to keep enough of my wits about me to remind myself that we were still in front of a nursing dragon, and therefore still in some sort of mortal peril, even though Charlie would bear the brunt of her attack.

That would be awkward to explain to mum.

Bertha roared again, forcing Hermione and me to pull away from the kiss. Her face looked as flushed as mine felt and I gave her the biggest smile I could muster before turning my attention back to the dragon, who was now happily toasting her breakfast. I pulled Hermione closer against my chest and smiled as she settled happily in my arms.

Once breakfast was over, I gave her the tour and we spent the rest of the day exploring the sanctuary. We even ate lunch by the side of the large reservoir. The day couldn't have gone more perfectly; even if I'd gotten back to the news that the canons had finally won a game, it wouldn't beat the feeling of spending the day with Hermione.

Eventually, the sun started to go down and with it, the temperature dropped to closer to zero. Although Hermione had dressed warm and brought extra layers, just like I'd asked her to, I knew our day was finally coming to an end. I tried not to feel sad about it as I escorted her back to the fireplace, taking my time to delay the inevitable goodbye.

At some point during our walk back to the common room, Hermione's hand had slipped comfortably into mine where it had stayed for the rest of the stroll. We walked in comfortable silence and it wasn't until we got back that I spoke again.

"So…" We were standing in front of the fireplace now, and I rested my hand on the mantlepiece behind her so I could lean into her. "I'd like to see you again…"

I could see the hesitance in her eyes, and I knew the questions that were racing through her mind. She wasn't cautious about me, of course, but of my current situation.

She seemed to consider whether she should ask the question lurking at the front of her brain until she finally just blurted it out. "That would be nice, but aren't you going back to Romania soon?"

I knew it! To be fair to her, I'd be thinking the same thing had I been in her position. Luckily, I'd already prepared for it.

"Well, that's the thing." I found myself jamming my hands into my pockets. Touching her probably wouldn't be the best idea right now. "I could go home, but the other day I heard that there was a vacancy here. I could stay?"

My heart started pounding loudly in my ears, irregular and impatient in anticipation of her response. My question was fully loaded with everything that could be between me and her; maybe a year or five down the line. But only if we both wanted to put in the hard work.

Thinking back on it, that's what made it so difficult the last time. I was completely guilty of expecting it to be easy, that a relationship would just happen and neglected to put in the effort to maintain it. I needed her validation now, to know that she felt the same. I didn't want to risk giving up everything I had in Romania without knowing there was at least a small chance that she might want it too.

She contemplated her answer, before responding in the most Hermione-way possible.

"if I hadn't come today; if we hadn't bumped into each other in the pub, would you still want to stay?"

Her eyes were bright, jovial almost. She was testing me, making sure I was doing this for me and not just for her.

"Don't get me wrong, I really love working with Charlie and I bloody love my job. But I miss home. I miss Mum and Dad and the rest of my crazy family. I think I'd like to move back…"

A smile flickered briefly across her face, although she bit her lip to stop it. "I would like that, a lot. I think Harry would like it too. He misses you terribly…"

"And what about you? Do you miss me too?"

She didn't respond to me, instead choosing to stretch up on her tiptoes and press her lips against mine.

The kiss was harder this time, filled with want and need. Automatically, I slid my hands around her waist and pulled her closer to me as I sought to push the kisses deeper; ignoring the jeers and whoops from the rest of the staff sat behind us. Of course, they'd been bloody watching us, they were a big bunch of pervs.

As much as I wanted to drag her out of there, I resisted; instead forcing myself to pull away before I could no longer stop.

"Maybe we could speak tomorrow?" I rested my head against her forehead as I fought to regain my breath. She always could do that to me.

"I'd like that!" She smiled as she said it, although she had started to unwind herself from me. That was very Hermione too; she found it easier to say goodbye, to hang up the phone whilst I tried to stretch the moment out to the very last minute.

"Great…" I knew I had that goofy, wonky smile on my face; the one I used to absolutely detest until I learnt that it meant that I was happy, that I felt secure and loved. It took every ounce of me to not grab her again for another kiss, to follow her through the fireplace and to her bed in the house she shared with Harry and Ginny. Instead, I settled for a squeeze of her hand before finally letting go of her.

She stood in the fireplace, wrinkling up her nose in that adorable way she does before finally disappearing. Merlin, that witch drove me crazy.


End file.
